Black Hearts and Broken Wills
by Moon's Tide
Summary: "You are just a part of my pathetic past. My childhood memories are just one of the filth that I had discarded a long time ago. I don't need you, and I want you out of my life." Ouch. *Summary Change*
1. Prologue : The definition of Fly

**Author's Note: So hi! This is my first fanfiction! So….um….I hope that you can review! Please review, 'cuz I think I get my inspirations from them. All types of reviews are welcome, but please keep in mind that this is my first story, so please be a little kind. **

**Also, for those that were looking for romance, this story will have it! This, though, is not mentioned in the prologue. **

**This prologue, honestly, is not to my liking. The story will not be like this, besides the humor. If you do not like the Prologue, PLEASE SKIP TO THE FIRST CHAPTER AND GIVE IT A SECOND CHANCE.  
**

******Well, that's that and please enjoy!**

* * *

**Prologue:****_ The Definition of "Fly"_**

It was a normal day in Konoha High.

Well, as normal as Konoha High could be, anyways.

You see, Konoha High is a prestigious, all-rich-family school. Sixty-nine percent of this school is made up of daughters and sons of nobility or world-class businessmen. Another thirty percent is made of princes or princesses of small European countries. Naturally, the two "classes" fight a lot, and no matter who you are, you have to take a side. The school centers on these two classes.

However, in the shadows and nearly invisible, roam the third and lowest class. This class makes up the rest of the student body, or in this case, a mere 1 percent.

Yep.

Only one small, little, miniscule percent of this school is made up of poor, but insanely smart students attending this school only because of an awarded scholarship.

Sakura Haruno is part of this one percent.

Now, now, Sakura is not poor. Heck no, she'd even be considered "rich" in the civilian's standards. But still, compared to these millionaires, or even _billionaires, _she is equivalent to anybody residing in the soup kitchen. In Sakura's case, she is equivalent to a fly.

Anyone should understand how humans feel about flies. When we see them cruising around the room, there are two reactions we can make, both which depend solely on what type of mood we are at that instant. For example, if one is feeling happy, like I-just-won-a-million-dollars happy, the jubilant guy might allow the lucky fly continue its jolly path around the room. (Or the guy might just open the door as the motion for the fly to exit. If the fly doesn't catch on, well…go figure.)

However, in the latter choice, the human might be in a foul, foul, mood. Even though it pains me to say so, it is the common nature of humans to push our misery on to someone – or in this case _something – _else.

I know, I know. In this instant, you may ask: _"Why exactly would we bully flies if we do not know how they feel? Wouldn't humans serve as a better figure to push pain onto?" _

Yes. It is true. Shallow, conceited beings feel that their own kind are the most enjoyable to hurt. However, not all humans have the ability hurt the ones that have the same, if not, greater power. So then, they naturally push the anger down onto the weak, defenseless ones (gee, I wonder what they are. No, I haven't been talking about them for the past 100 or so words).

Therefore, the second choice usually ends with an angry lady in a bathrobe chasing the poor fly around with a stiletto.

I think the fly prefers the former choice.

Either way, flies are something which humans look down upon, and are treated as though they are not there, or are regarded as if they are Mother Nature's curse to mankind. And of course, no one would _ever_ stop and talk to a fly would they?

Now, in the past 307 words I just explained the whole "food chain" system in Konoha High. The rich guys are considered the "humans", while the scholarship students are the "flies".

With that concept in mind, continue on with this story.

* * *

**I am done with the prologue! PLEASE REVIEW!****  
**


	2. Chapter 1: Revenge for Who?

**Author's Note: Well, thank you for those who reviewed! I'm really grateful. So once again, please review. Just so you know, this chapter's feeling is much different than the "prologue". **

**Well, enough of his blabbering and enjoy!**

* * *

_In the Cherry Blossom Festival one spring, a young girl met a little boy._

_._

_"What is your name?"_

_"S-Sasuke Uchiha."_

_"Hi Sasuke! I'm Sakura!"_

_The little boy silently scrutinized the girl in front of him and scrunched his head as if in deep thought. Only after a minute did he reply._

_".c...r...y..b..s..m.."_

_"Hm? What did you say?"_

_"Cherry b-blossoms."_

_"E-Eh, yeah! Yeah, I guess it means that."_

_The little boy furrowed his brow again and did not reply. The small girl reddened._

_"__ U-Um, it's ok if you don't like it. It's completely fine, I don't care, don't try to protect my feelings. In fact, I-I don't like it either because it is to non-creative and stuff and I would understand if you don't like it either and for that I under-"_

___Her ramblings were cut short as the little boy stooped down to pick up a fallen blossom and gently placed it into her hair._

___"It suits you."_

_._

_And so, their story begins._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Revenge for _Who?_**

Sakura collapsed onto the marble floor.

Crimsoned colors blurred before her eyes, and everywhere, even places that she never thought possible, were aching with an unfamiliar throbbing pain. The inside of her mouth reeked with the aftertaste of new blood and the large gash upon her lips spurted fresh sets of blood every now and then. Maybe she had bit down a little too hard. Sakura gave her bottom lip a tentative tap, only to be rewarded with an almost unbearable pain shooting up into her flesh. Wincing, she turned to her side so her attackers couldn't see her visible agony.  
Oh, and God did it hurt.

Still, she did not make a sound. Not even a whimper.

She didn't want to give these lowlifes their pleasure.

Sakura sucked in her breath and let it go. It almost seems that the kicks aimed at her chest had punctured her lungs instead of the intended ribcage area. Her breathing was short and ragged, and every inhale seemed to be constricted in one place, as every exhale was short and sputtery. As a result, her normally evened breaths came out as mismatched wheezes. Sakura could only imagine how pitiful she must look right now.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud (and bratty, mind you) voice near her.

"Hah, hah. The scum's trying to hold it in, huh? Look at her, look at her absolutely PATHETIC FACE. Picture worthy."

A chorus of laughter erupted around Sakura after the witty comment. Nobody seemed to mind that there was a student bleeding and writhing on the floor.

Sakura raised her eyes to the scene around her. Everything was blurry, for her thick glasses were strewn across the room somewhere and most likely trampled on and forgotten. If she was lucky, most of the structure would still be intact. But then again, luck never seemed to do it for her.

However and still, even without her glasses, she could make out a figure of an...ahem..._crudely_ dressed redhead standing in the center of the crowd as if the world revolved around her. Standing around the girl, Sakura could just make out the blurred outlines of the swine's lackeys, or her "fatty lackeys", as flies likes to call them. The redhead's lackeys weren't actually the physical size of a pig, only the perfect ego size of a hog just waiting to be butchered.

To tell the honest truth, these girls aren't that bad. They just follow their "master"(another fly nickname) around like a horde of mindless drones. What this means is that if their "master" suddenly has a change of heart and decides to use her power and immense wealth for good (though Sakura highly doubts it), anyone can count on these girls to be no less than two steps behind.

Now. Who, one may ask, _who _exactly, is this "master", this "swine", this "girl", who _this_ "redhead" is.

That girl is Karin.

Karin is the single most well-known girl in the entire student body as well as the second most well _liked_ girl strutting around in 5-inch sparkly (ooh...shiny) pumps. It also seems that recently, Karin has something against scholarship students roaming the campus grounds. However, for some unknown reason, Karin's undivided attention seemed to be centered on the newest fly, Haruno Sakura.

Have you ever heard about the term: "Love at first sight"?

Karin took one look at Sakura and preceded to make her life miserable.

And Sakura?

Sakura took one look at Karin's smug face and knew that this would be a very, very long year.

* * *

_"Sakura honey, I would like to introduce you to a new friend."_

_"WAA! A FRIEND? A NEW ONE? COMING!"_

_"Honey? Wait, be a little careful down the..." The green-eyed woman's warning faded away when she saw her little daughter tumble straight down the spiral staircase, obviously to excited for her own good. Sighing, the woman walked over to the landing of the staircase and helped her little daughter up. Even after that long fall, her young daughter didn't seem to be the least bit hurt, for the little girl jumped up almost immediately after her long fall and zoomed straight to the backyard patio. The woman let out a long, immature groan. That little powerhouse will be the death of her. Standing up and dusting her coral dress, she jogged after her daughter, yelling information and warnings along the way. _

_"Sakura, watch out for that china vase." _

_Crash._

_"Oopsies, sorry!"_

_"Sakura! The dishes!"_

_Tumble. Crash._

_"ONE SURVIVED!"_

_Crash._

_"Never mind."_

_Her daughter continued to weave in and out of the maze of hallways, paying no heed to the items around her, her mind only on the one single destination in mind. However, the woman had still one more thing to say._

_"Sakura?"_

_"Mhm?"_

_"Be a little more gentle around your new friend."_

_"Why?" Her daughter's hand was already on the door to the backyard. Seeing her short amount of response time, she replied hurriedly: _

_"This is our new manager's son. He is a little socially awkward, so it would be best t-"_

_Her sentence was cut off by the loud opening of the glass door. Sighing yet again, she mumbled incoherently to herself as she too, stepped out into the patio, ready to give an apology to the new CEO. However, nothing she could have done would have prepared her for the scene in front her. She almost fainted dead-flat onto the ground right that instant._

_Her eyes widened as she stared openmouthed at her little daughter hugging the CEO's youngest son. The frigging CEO's boy! _

_'Oh god please have mercy on me today. Please don't let me get ripped into pieces by that CEO and thrown out of office and get assassinated because I - '_

_"SASUKE-KUN!"_

_._

_'What.'_

_._

_"...Sakura-chan?"_

_._

_'The hell.'_

* * *

By the time the second bell had rung, the hallways were completely empty as every student in their sane mind had already ran to their numerous classes. This however, was ignored by a select few 5 people as they continued to torture the girl on the ground, Haruno Sakura.

The redhead by the name of "Karin" seemed to take the most enjoyment out of this barbarous beating of the new transfer student. Flipping her hair and placing a perfectly manicured hand on her hip, Karin wrinkled her nose as if Sakura was a piece of uncooked cow liver. She aimed another kick at Sakura before sneering.

"Hon, don't blame us that you're in this situation". Karin's comment was echoed by her underlings with chants of "yeahs" and "uh-huhs". Sakura however, doubted that the four other girls even knew what Karin was hinting towards.

As for herself, she was lying on the ground with every visible part of her body bruised and swollen beyond recognition. Sakura could almost swear there was a Gucci-style footprint etched on her stomach. By the time they got through with her, she'll look like the living representation of the ground in front of the Grand Mall after the opening of Black Friday. She winced after another kick connected with her shoulder. She got to give these girls some credit. They sure knew how to kick.

_But never as good as me._

Sakura wanted to smirk, but her swollen lips hurt too much even when she twitched it a little. Therefore, she had to be content with smirking inside her mind. It wasn't as satisfying, but at least it reminded her that she still had hold of the dignity she had left. As she continued to play the image of the defenseless girl, her ears outside, sadly, were forced to put up with Karin's shrieks and taunts that nearly reached over the Decibel Scale. However, inside, her real mind was left to wander somewhere else - somewhere near a certain place in her head where she was trying to restrain her furious conscience that screamed to slaughter each and every one of these girls _right this instant_. Karin's words had went through one ear and came out the other. At least, that was the case until Sakura felt a hand pull at her long pink strands and an extremely loud voice next her ear.

"HEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"

"..." Sakura chose not to answer.

"HUH? ARE YOU IGNORING ME? HUH, ARE YOU? YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING-LITTLE-WEASEL? SPEAK! OR ARE YOU TOO _AFRAID_ TO HUH? ARE YOU IGNO-"

"Yes."

Karin's face turned into a bright shade of red. Twisting her grasp on Sakura's hair, she directed 5 kicks at Sakura's shin, which was already filled with black and red wounds. At the same time she kicked down, she yanked her victim's legs up, intensifying the pain. After watching Sakura's face contort to agony as she stepped on her leg, Karin's sneer grew wider.

"YOU - wham - ARE - wham - SO - wham - FUCKING - wham- DEAD - _crunch."_

_Crunch._

The sickening sound echoed in Sakura's ear. At first, Sakura was confused. What had happened to the normal sounds of shoe hitting flesh? Why did her legs feel all tingly and numb? Only after watching Karin's face pale before turning into an appalling grin and her own slightly misplaced leg, did her mind begin to register the current predicament.

_Holy shit._

That was her last thought before she was thrown headfirst into the storm. There wasn't any pain at first, but suddenly, just as lightning would flash out in a second, did the pain strike her with all its might. Sakura couldn't remember what had exactly happened, just that she was sitting up at one instant, and then on the ground the next. She saw red and bright flashes shot up into her eyes which in turn were full of tears, and the pain - gosh, the pain was unbearable. Screams and laughter from the background evaded her ears, and even though she couldn't tell which from which, she was pretty sure that they were the ones laughing and she was the one screaming. She was lightheaded and dizzy, and as each second passed, her sight dimmed, before fading to a complete darkness.

As her head fell limp against the marble floor, she last heard Karin's smug words.

.

"_This is revenge for Sasuke-kun."_

_._

_"...revenge for Sasuke-kun."_

_._

_"...Sasuke-kun."  
_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_Sasuke-kun?_

* * *

When Sakura woke up a few hours later in the school's infirmary, the same name still echoed in her mind.

_Sasuke-kun._

* * *

_Will you ever leave me?_

_Never._

_Will you love me forever?_

_Forever._

_Please don't break my heart yet again._

___I never did and I never will._  


* * *

**___Yips! Done with the 1st chapter. To those who sticked with the story since the HORRIBLE PROLOGUE/ definition for the word "fly", thank you for being so awesome. To those who hated the prologue and yet gave this chapter a second chance, thank you for coming back. As for the ones who hated the prologue and never came back...well, what's the point, ne?_**

**___Ah, well, thank you, thank you. Please enjoy my stories and please, please review!_**


	3. Chapter 2: Fudge Off

**Chapter 2: Fudge off.**

* * *

**Author's note: I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so thankful to all you readers out there.**

**I am especially thankful to OpenPervert-Chan for all of her wonderful reviews and comments and for including me in my very** **first** **community!**

**Also, I am ever so in debt to my fabulous friend, Rachel or "Rachie", for her wonderful reviews and recommending me on her story. You can see her equally fabulous story in the link in my profile.**

**Also, PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE IN THE END. IT CONTAINS A VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION.**

**Well, enough of this blabbering and enjoy!**

* * *

_"Sasuke-kun?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Why do you have chicken hair?"_

_The little boy nearly fell off his own swing. Eyes widening, he turned to his stare to his female playmate besides him. When he realized that she was staring at him with an equally serious gaze, he ducked his head and averted his gaze to the warm sand beneath his feet. The silence stretched on like this for a long time, until finally Sasuke admitted that he didn't know why._

_Only a moment after he replied, the girl spoke up again, but this time, in a completely different topic. She talked about how her parents were arguing last night, and her mother used the word "ass". After asking numerous times and denied each time, she just decided to ask her neighbor next door. The neighbor told her that the word meant "butt", and then asked her where she heard the word. That was the end of Sakura's story._

_Sasuke was, again, quite confused. He had no idea how the topic before related to the one right now. So, as a well-mannered child would do, he politely asked the Sakura how those two topics were related._

_The little girl flashed him her largest and best smile, and told him that his hair looked like the feather's sticking out of a chicken's ass._

_._

_The next day, Sasuke was wearing a hat._

* * *

_Sasuke-kun._

The name kept on repeating in her head, on and on.

_Sasuke-kun._

Sakura barely remembered anything about Sasuke-kun anymore, only the little bits and pieces that her mother cared to explain to her. She only remembered that he left her in the start of middle school. She had only remembered her tears and her begs for him to not go and leave her all alone with a bunch of scary people.

She remembered his kind, but sad smile as he hugged her and brought a box of tissues from out of nowhere.

They had left on a good note.

But why...?

_"Revenge for Sasuke-kun."_

What did she do to make him hate her so much?

Almost desperately, she tried to reminisce the strings of insults that she had payed no heed to, for maybe there will be some useful information in the seemingly useless phrases. After all, she had vaguely remembered them "explaining" the reason of their extreme hate towards her.

After an eternity, which consisted of staring out the window and scrunching her nose until it hurt, she finally picked up some memories from the most rural areas of her mind. After filtering out the useless information and gnawing her teeth at the especially insulting ones, she finally came upon 4 lines.

"_Yeah, blame yourself."__  
_

_"Because of you, we got rejected by Sasuke-kun."_

_"Because of you, Sasuke-kun told us to fudge off."_

_"Yeah! He was probably rejected us because he was in a bad mood because you useless transfer students keep on annoying him."_

Fudge off? Annoying transfer students?

The Sasuke-kun she knows would never, ever reject a girl, even if it is as annoying ( and bitc - nah, never mind) as Karin and her crew. And he would never, ever tell a girl ready to give her heart out to him to "fudge off". And more than that, he wouldn't discriminate against poor, transfer students, nevertheless be in a bad mood because of them.

The Sasuke-kun she knows is kind, loving, and sweet. He would be the type to be shy and give a girl a tissue when she was crying and heartbroken. He would be the one to drop all his things and help an old lady up the stairs. Even when a girl would confess to him and he didn't like her, he would hug her and say that he was sorry that he wasn't ready to be with her. Then he would cry along with her.

This Sasuke, the boy she knew, is absolutely _not _the frigging cold and heartless boy living in this hellhole. He might have the same first name as her childhood friend (she didn't know that boy's last name) with the same spelling, but her Sasuke-kun would not be like this "_Sasuke". _After all, there was no law against having the same name.

Yes, that must be it.

Sakura sighed with relief.

The prospect of having her childhood best friend hate her was just a thought too much for Sakura to bear. To realize that this _boy_ hated her because of no real, legible, or personal reason lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.

However, a little, quiet voice in her mind spoke out her deepest fear.

_'You didn't see him for more than 5 years. Five years is a long time for a person to cha-'_

Knock.

Sakura was snapped up from her reverie by the firm knocking upon the wooden door. Pushing her nagging thoughts to the back of her mind, she cleared her throat and announced: "Come in."

_It doesn't matter anymore. I'm just being a worrycat._

Her eyes flitted to the door as it opened to reveal a young and pretty black-haired nurse. Sakura had seen this woman walk the principal's pig around the campus grounds during lunch period, as well as attending to the jocks who often got hurt when tackling each other a little too hard than necessary. According to other flies, she also served as the principal's assistant. Sakura, however, never personally talked to her before.

The woman smiled kindly at Sakura. Walking over to the cabinet next to Sakura's bed, the black-haired woman reached for a roll of bandages before turning towards her again. "How is your leg, Sakura?"

_Huh? What was she talking about? Nothing is wrong with my leg...oh, right._

Sakura mentally facepalmed. Out of all the confusion over the "Sasuke" and the "revenge" thing, she had forgotten how she even ended up in this situation in the first place. Sitting up abruptly, Sakura stared at her left leg which stuck up from under the blankets. The ankle was wrapped in bandages and heavy gauze, and the her foot seemed only slightly swollen and red. And most of all, it did not hurt a single bit.

Sakura sighed with relief. It was in a better condition than what she expected.

She tried to wiggle her toes experimentally. The toes did not wiggle.

Or maybe not.

_'Damn it. If those ogresses broke my shins, I'll break them too.'_

It was then that she heard an awkward cough beside her. Turning her head to the side, she realized the nurse was still there, waiting for an answer. Clearing all signs of anger off her face and plastering on one of her largest and most fake smiles, Sakura replied, "Oh, it's alright, um..."

The woman smiled again. "Shizune."

Sakura reddened to an impossibly _red _shade. "Y-Yeah! Shizune! Sorry!"

The woman looked amused, and dismissed the matter quickly.

Walking over, the woman, or Shizune, kneeled by Sakura's broken leg. Murmuring to herself, she unwrapped the outer layer and wrapped another layer on. They both stayed in this uncomfortable silence until Shizune spoke once again.

"Sakura?"

Sakura nodded in reply. "Mm?"

Pinning the final layer to the first wrap, Shizune stood up and smoothed her navy blue dress. She stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, inspecting her handiwork. It was a while until she spoke again.

"Sakura, this is a very serious injury. If this wasn't a normal school and I was not a highly-qualified doctor, you would be in the Emergency Room in a hospital right now." She raised her gaze to meet the one of Sakura's before continuing. "Furthermore, when I found you, you were covered with bruises and scratches from head to toe." She paused again. "Sakura, tell me the honest truth. What happened to you? Who did this to you?"

Sakura was panicking big time.

While her inner conscience screamed for her to blurt out the names of those imbecile beings right this instant and give them what they deserve, the logical part of her mind screamed "no".

And no, never would she defend those sluts and whores. It was just that if she ratted them out, they would get in very big trouble. However, along with that, Sakura herself would get into even a larger trouble.

Karin's family owns the Hebi Business and Corporation. The Hebi Business is one of the largest fashion industries out there in the whole entire world. Karin is the only daughter of the head as well as the sole inheritor of the Hebi Business, and therefore is spoiled rotten. If Karin gets into any trouble, the Hebi business would not take it lightly. One word and a few million dollars could destroy the Haruno reputation as well as the family's future career.

If Karin didn't have her family's power behind her, Sakura would have punched her straight in her face before Karin even said her first word. But because this wasn't a perfect world and she didn't live a perfect life, Sakura has to play the part of a helpless and weak victim.

Sakura could withstand the pain, but she doesn't know what she'll do if her mother has to go through the same pain too.

With that thought in mind, Sakura decided to wing it.

_'Let's see how good my lying skills have become.'_

"So...um...I was running. YEAH! I was running...and...I..uh...tripped...um...and I fell. YEAH! I-I fell..because...because...um...because...I-I was...going to be late for class! Yeah! Late for class! And I tumbled down the staircase..." Sakura's blabbering faltered when she noticed Shizune's raised eyebrow.

"There is no staircase in this school."

_Screw it._

"H-Heh..um...yeah! I knew that...um...I meant the staircase in my house. My house! Yep. And...uh..along the way...I got run over by a motorcycle! Um...y-yeah...I mean...I _nearly _got run over by a motorcycle. Yeah...a motorcycle! Yeah, so I was a-already really um...torn up. Yep. Yeah! A-And...um...another motorcycle ran over my elbow - I mean my ankle! Yeah! My ankle!

"A motorcycle was _in _this school?"

"Y-Yes...um..I mean NO...um...m-maybe...?"

Shizune sighed. It was completely obvious the girl was bluffing. For what reason though, she could never understand. It would be useless to try to wrestle the information from a victim if the person herself didn't want to talk. Therefore, Shizune just gave up and stopped the heated interrogation and instead turned over to return the leftover roll of gauze back to it's rightful place on the shelf. After explaining to a very relieved Sakura of the fact that she had a severely fractured, but not broken bone, she said her goodbyes and excused herself out the door.

However, she stopped at the doorframe. Turning her head back to look at the girl in the bed, she opened her mouth to say one last parting word, and hopefully her saving grace.

"Sakura?"

"Y-Yes?"

Shizune was about to offer help, but halted immediately after looking into the bedridden girl's eyes.

In the emerald green depths, burned a passion, a fierceness that could only be found in the most noble of hearts. Her eyes gave away her wanting to help each and every one in this world, and showed that she lived to protect the ones dear to her.

Her eyes showed that she did not need help.

.

.

_"If you ever need any protection, I won't hesitate to help." _

That phrase stuck in Shizune's throat, refusing to come out.

That girl didn't need help.

She didn't want protection.

.

.

"If you need an ally, I will side with you."

With those final words, Shizune walked out the door.

* * *

_A little girl ran to a young boy, who was sniveling and crying. The girl frantically wiped away his tears with her tiny hands, and asked what was wrong. _

_He replied that today, a girl told him that she liked him, but he didn't feel the same way about her. He had told her that he was sorry that he wasn't ready for her yet, and cried along with her. Even after she left, he continued crying._

_He asked Sakura if he was so mean and ugly that the world had to take revenge on him and make him break a girl's heart._

_The little girl smiled kindly for a moment, then told him that he was stupid._

_She told him that he was so handsome, kind, and smart that every girl likes him._

_She told him that since every girl will fall in love with him, he would have a better chance of falling in love with a girl who loves him equally as much as he does love her._

_He stared at her in shock, and then cried with relief._

_._

_At that time, he thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world._

* * *

Sakura walked down the hallway, her arms looped around two crutches as she hobbled across the hallway to get to her next class.

Thankfully, even the most of the evil ones had an empathetic side of them as they ignored her and instead found some new fly to bully. Even Karin only shot her a smug smirk as she walked past Sakura with her posse trailing beside her and commenting on their make-up every now and then.

Of course, Sakura still had to shove her way down the halls. It's not like any of the students parted just because of her or acknowledged her presence in the least bit. If they had done that, well, that would just be plain creepy.

Eyes trailing along the smooth, marble wall, Sakura desperately searched for the brass number beside each set of glass doors.

_54...64...74...84...94...104..._

How many rooms were there in this place?! She wanted room 23, not room 125! Swinging forward again with much difficulty, Sakura cursed at her own immobility. She envied the lucky beings who get to escape the torture of ever having a broken leg.

_Dear legs, I would never take you for granted ever again._

Smiling at her own cheesy joke, she continued on with a newfound energy.

Maybe, just maybe, she will survive.

.

_5 minutes later..._

"NEED WATER."

Sakura gulped a mouthful of cool air before slumping down onto the ground, restricting herself from screaming bloody murder at her useless left leg.

Do the people out there know how much stamina it takes to walk on those _cursed, cursed _devices? Sakura used to be the captain of the track and field team back in her middle school, and yet, walking on those _things _nearly destroyed all her available moving capacity. How those old folks manage to go by like that are unknown to her.

Huffing out a long sigh, Sakura leaned against the glass wall and surveyed the campus grounds below her. She needed to catch her breath anyways, so why not do something useful while she's at it.

Konoha High, being the rich, high-classed school it is, is secluded from the public eye. Therefore, its campus is situated in the middle of a lush, green forest between twin mountains, with only one way to get in, as well as only one way to get out. Because of its unique position, the single-story school building of Konoha High is at a higher elevation than the rest of the campus, allowing any student inside to get a perfect view of the entire school ground.

Sakura was taking full advantage of that fact.

Taking a good look at the courtyard for the first time, she realized with awe at how big it actually is.

The courtyard was established as the center of the whole school, as well as the first thing any student would see after entering from the main entrance on the south side. The ground was made out of sleek, white marble that must have cost a fortune. When Sakura had first set her eyes on it, she was tempted to take a pickaxe and wedge out a chunk to bring home and sell in the black market. Her logical mind, though, saved her again from getting chased down by the FBI.

Sakura knew that the school building itself took up all of the courtyard's north side, but that was all she could tell. Being the one in the enormous structure has its certain disadvantages too. After all, she couldn't remember the building even after entering the school numerous times; she never did pay attention to her surroundings.

Sakura's eyes flitted to her right, or the West Wing of the school grounds. Lined up along the side closest to the her were low (again), gracefully structured buildings. Those were the dorms, and also the place Sakura has to call "home" for the next 3 years. Of course, that place will never really be home to her.

A sad, wistful smile crossed Sakura's face. It seemed like forever since she had last sawn her mom. She had promised to herself to write to her mom as soon as she stepped foot on her new school, but she never seemed to have enough time.

Speaking of time...

Sakura yanked up her sleeve and fumbled around with her new, digital hand watch.

What she saw glaring back at her made her blood run cold.

It was 8:28. Class starts at 8:30.

_Damn it all to hell._

* * *

_Would you love me as much as I love you?_

_Would you never let me cry?_

_Would you give it all up for me?_

* * *

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Leaning on her left leg and panting like she had just ran the marathon, Sakura continued to make her way across the hall. The corridor now only had a few people roaming around in it, which was good news to her since she could move easier, but at the same time bad news as well, for it increased the urgency and reality of the upcoming school bell.

_4...6...9...Girl's Bathroom...11...13..._

Sakura mentally gritted her teeth.

"Come on! Fifteen...Sixteen...Seventeen...Eighteen...Ninete- WAH!"

She bounded backwards when she nearly rammed into a very, very solid chest. Thank the lord that she had gotten her black belt in judo last summer.

After maintaining her stance again, she squeaked a very quick "sorry" and hurried past the muscular figure yet again.

"Eighteen...Nineteen...Twenty...Twenty-one...Boy's Bathro-WHAT THE HELL!..."

.

A pair of onyx eyes was watching her departing figure.

* * *

_"Sakura?"_

_"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"_

_"Remember what you told me before, about having a better chance to find "true love"?"_

_"Ne, Sasuke-kun, of course I remember."_

_"What would you do if the girl that you like probably doesn't like you back?"_

_The little girl turned to look at the boy in surprise, before gasping dramatically. _

_"WAH! Do you like somebody?"_

_The boy turned into a lovely shade of rose pink at the girl's accusation. _

_"N-No!" he denied fervently, face burning to an even brighter shade of red._

_"Liar liar, pants on fire, hanging on the telephone wire!"_

_"R-Really!"_

_The little girl blew out a long sigh._

_"Fine. I'll tell you. But eventually, when you become brave, you have to tell me the girl you like now."_

_"I really don't like anybody!"_

_"Hmm...let me think," the girl mumbled, paying no heed to his words. After a few moments of tense silence, she replied boldly._

_"Well, I don't know what girls really fall for, but I know what I like."_

_"What do you like?"_

_"I would fall for a boy who would follow me to the ends of the Earth, and will love me with all his heart, even when I showed no interest in him yet. I want him to be so gentle, so caring, so kind and compassionate that I would be able to love him forever, and ever, and ever. I want him to be able to hold me when I cry, or someone who would hold the umbrella over my head when it is raining." The little girl giggled. "I know that I might be asking for way too much, but I just can't help it."_

_After she finished, both stayed silent. _

_On that day, Sasuke vowed that he would be the one she was always waiting for._

* * *

**_And that, mua friends, is the end to this exceptionally long chapter._**

**_Next, this is my new slogan:_**

**_So, how was it?_**

**_Good? Bad?_**

**_Too long? Too short?_**

**_Too fast? Too slow?_**

**_Do you have any questions?_**

**_What do you want in the next chapter?_**

**_PM or REVIEW, and I'll make it happen!_**

**_._**

**_._**

**_._**

**_Also, on a sadder note, I probably will not update until I get at least 20 reviews._**

**_NO, I DID NOT DO THIS INTENTIONALLY._**

**_MY PARENTS DO NOT AGREE WITH ME UPDATING ON THIS WEBSITE, AS THEY SAY THAT THERE IS NO POINT TO UPDATE IF NOBODY ENJOYS IT. _**

**_THEREFORE, I STRUCK A DEAL WITH THEM, AND WELL, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED._**

**_SORRY FOR THIS, BUT IF YOU WANT TO READ MORE OF THIS STORY, THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS HAS TO GO UP._**

**_Sorry again for this._**

**_._**

**_Spoiler: If there is going to be a next chapter, it would be called: Bittersweet Smiles. Sasuke will show up too!_**

**_._**

**_~ Moon's Tide_**


	4. Chapter 3: That Voice

**Author's Note: THANK YOU FOR SO MANY REVIEWS! BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS, I CAN CONTINUE DOING WHAT I LOVE THE MOST!**

**This chapter is kind of a mess because I was rushing to get Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke in the picture. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: That Voice**

* * *

_Under the cherry blossom tree lay a sleeping little girl._

_Next to her lay a little boy_

_that watched her angelic face._

_As a gentle breeze blew past their faces, _

_the pink blooms upon the tall tree whistle._

_When a single bloom drifted from the crowd_

_and lay itself in the boy's lap,_

_he is reminded_

_of how their paths entwined_

_in_

_the _

_spring_

_of_

_last_

_April._

* * *

At first, she just paced around the front of the classroom with an expression of pure confidence and courage. Only her hand betrayed the facade and displayed her anxiety, for it fidgeted and adjusted her knee-length uniform skirt continuously, refusing to come to a rest and open the large door. Every time she _did_ muster up the courage to finally place her hand onto the door, her long-forgotten (and much not needed) inner self would always find a fault with her counterpart's appearance and interrupt the logical thoughts about deciding to suck it up or being late to class. As her inner self's slogan "_looks are more important grades_", the imaginary nuisiance would always drag her outer back and explain, or so she calls it, "the way of the world." Falling victim to her mind's reasonings, the real Sakura would then extract her hand (again) and run her fingers through the imaginary knots in her long hair.

Sakura winced as she accidentally pulled a little too hard on a very _real _knot.

This wasn't like herself. She never cared what about what others thought of herself, nevertheless care even remotely on how others thought she looked. Sakura could be shy at certain times and certain places, but she never once had a problem of the butterflies on the first day of school.

_Dammit. Karin and her self-conscience crew probably rubbed on to me after being near them for such a long time. _

Sakura stroked her chin and bowed her head in a mocking sorrow.

_Their disease must be highly contagious._

Yes. That must be it.

After all, every day they walked around in glittery packs and squealed for the newest designer clothes and the most expensive perfume brands. Every day, unlucky students have to catch a glimpse of them flaunting their heels and parading to the other end of the hall like they invented the very idea of the catwalk and the red carpet. However, the scenes of some of their mobility issues really made her day.

Sakura stuck her nose in the air and scrunched her face as if something smelled terrible. Standing on her tippy-toes, she tried her best to keep balance as she flounced around the classroom and flipped her hair, mirroring what she saw in the halls every single morning.

"OMG! Like, her makeup was so _last _year!" Sakura mimicked in a high-pitched voice. Turning around, she struck another pose. "Oh, oh, and did you know? I heard that Mara and Kal are hooking up. They _so_ don't fit each other!"

Sakura heaved a sigh before straightening up and returning to her original stance.

It seemed that the case for these girls were hopeless. However, she herself will definitely not fall victim to this tragic occurrence.

_Shannaro! Karin will never get the best of me!_

With a newfound fire in her heart, Sakura stalked towards her classroom and put her hands on the shining glass door and gave a daring push.

And froze.

Wait a second. The shining glass door?

The shining _glass _door?!

It took a little longer than expected until Sakura pieced the situation together. Eventually, her wide expertise of math came to a good use as she created a few complicated equations in her mind. After rewriting and rechecking her results over and over again, her muddled mind finally came upon a simple solution. It went something like this:

_Glass equals transparent. Transparent equals see-through. See-through means students can see Sakura dancing like a monkey outside the door._

_'Well, would you look at that,' _her mind ranted bitterly. '_Your big hell of a brain has more thickness than it holds useless facts. And honey, that's saying a lot.'_

Sakura was too horrified to argue back.

With a gut-wrenching sense of an upcoming dilemma, Sakura inched her head back towards the classroom and prayed for her dear life.

Her prayers were not answered as 24 pairs of eyes stared back at her.

.

Well doesn't karma just _adore_ her today.

.

After standing for what seemed to be an hour (but was in fact one minute), the tense surroundings were just too much for her to bear. Intending to break the awkward situation, Sakura cracked a little smile and tilted her head a little to the right, forcing her quivering hand to give a friendly wave.

Nobody waved back. In fact, nothing even changed in the atmosphere besides the sudden increase of a murderous aura somewhere around the room.

Sakura was pretty sure half the classroom's population wanted to kill her right now and there. Even the nicer ones will think she is some escaped psycho from the Asylum.

'_It's only the first day and you got yourself into this mess. If you ever get famous, it would be because your name was listed under the "Worst Luck Ever" in the Guinness World Record.'_

'_Shut up,'_ Sakura grumbled mentally at her mind's snide remarks. '_Just because you think you're just SO great does not mean you could act like a total **bitch** inside **my own **body.'_

_'Without me you're screwed.'_

_'Have you forgot that I'm **already screwed**?!'_

_'You're on your own.'_

'_I hate you so, so much.'_

_'I know you love me from the bottom of your heart.'_

_'...'_

_'Well, it's actually my heart too, you see. We have the same organs.'_

_'...'_

_'But, your nerves are still yours. After all, we have two really different opinions on the definition of the lovely word, "fashion".'_

_'...'_

_'What do you think?'_

_'...just shut up.'_

* * *

_"You would not believe your eyes...lit up the world as I fell as-"_

_"You are making my ears bleed."_

_Sakura pouted. _

_"Ne, Sasuke-kun, you're so mean!"_

_The young boy chose to neglect his fuming best friend._

_"Sasuke-kun! Are you IGNORING me?"_

_Still no reply._

_"FINE. Be that way. It's not like you can sing any better anyways!"_

_Letting out a short huff, Sakura plopped down under the leafy, cherry blossom tree. Her back faced him, and they stayed in this tranquil silence for the rest of the afternoon._

_It was sunset when the first noise was made. The little boy, Sasuke, had cleared his throat and turned to face the floor._

_"You're singing isn't bad."_

_Sakura flashed a large smile at him. "Kaykay!"_

_"W-Wa...so you're not mad?"_

_"No, why would I be?"_

_"B-But I insulted your singing!"_

_Sakura cocked her head to the side. "No, no you didn't."_

_The little boy was completely baffled. "Huh?"_

_At the look of pure confusion on his face, her mouth spread even wider, until those meretricious white teeth were almost painful to look at. It was at that moment that Sasuke knew something was very, very wrong._

_"I was imitating you in the shower."_

* * *

"Yo."

Sakura whirled around to find a young, silver-haired man standing behind her. His right hand was held up in a partial wave, and his lone visible eye was crinkled into what seemed to be a friendly smile.

At least, she _thought_ it to be a friendly smile.

Honestly, she, or rather _no one_ could tell what was underneath that black mask of his. He very well could be growling obscenities at her right this instant and she wouldn't have a single clue.

It irked her. She was always the type who liked to have a perfect understanding of everything around her, and the mere thought of oblivion towards this stranger really set off the bomb.

_So. Damn. Secretive!_

_'...and hot!' _her inner self squealed. However, that irritating voice was soon shut into the deepest, darkest, and most _deadly_ (Sakura hoped) abyss in her conscience.

Her mentality was still contemplating ways to butcher the traitor when she suddenly felt a queasy discomfort in her stomach that dragged her away from the numerous torture chambers in her mind. When she looked up, she saw why.

The masked man had moved close to her. Too close, actually, for her liking. His clothed "smile" was a mere inches away from her own face, and at that moment, Sakura's brain went overload, registering only two clear thoughts.

One, that she could rip off his mask right there.

And two, that he was going to molest her.

_WAH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BASTARD! YOU DARE SOIL MY CLEAN SOUL!_

Sakura's eyes poured dramatic tears as his hand reached out towards her. She urged her body to move, to do something, to kick him, to rip off his mask (at least that way, she could win something), but her limbs would not abide, standing there like a statue as the lolicon's hand went closer...closer...

_'Is this it? Am I going to end here? All alone? My pure soul tainted black by this horrible act of vengeance?'_

Closer...closer...

_'No. This cannot be. My heart is pure! I have to fight! FIGHT!'_

And so she did the one thing she could think of.

She bit him. Hard.

Sakura refused to let go, even as she felt the hand she was chomping on pull back to the owner. The hand raised up, lifting Sakura a few inches above the ground, but still, she gnawed on the hand with the same fervency she had before, holding the man's arm as support so her teeth would not have to bear her whole weight.

Bite. Bite. Bite. Bite.

She finally stopped when the masked man stared down at her with a single, twinkling dark eye.

"Well, aren't you just the little cannibal."

Sakura just continued to stare at him through wide, innocent green eyes, her teeth still firmly attached to his hand.

The taller man chuckled at her angelic expression. He found it amusing that such a tiny girl could be such a ferocious biter.

"This is what happens when I try to introduce myself to new students, huh?" he mused out loud. He reached out with his other hand and stretched it towards the girl currently dangling off his left hand. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, room 23's teacher."

Sakura's eyes widened.

_H-he...He's my TEACHER?!_ _Bu-bu-bu-bu-bu...He's only looks 25! That can't be!_

_'Suck it up, princess,' _a certain voice called from Tartarus. "_The hottie is your teacher. Clarification. The man you are currently chomping on is your teacher.'_

It was then that the full weight of the situation finally settled in.

One.

Two.

Three.

_HOLY MACARONI FOR CHRIST'S SAKE AND ALL THAT IS GOOD, I JUST FUDGING BIT MY TEACHER!_

Sakura raised her eyes slowly. Her gaze was met by the one of her teacher's who raised his eyebrows and jiggled his hand a little.

Her face flushed a crimson red as she quickly detached herself from his hand and bowed her head. "Gomen, sensei...I didn't mean to..."

"Nah, it's OK, worse have happened before," Kakashi said while wiping his slobber-covered hand onto a piece of napkin.

_'What could be worse than a student hanging off your hand like a malicious dog?' _her conscience chided instantly. '_I am curious though...'_

Kakashi stood up after wiping the last of the slobber and discarding the tissue. "So you're the new student of our class?"

"Y-Yeah..."

_My teacher, my teacher, my teacher._

He bent down even closer than before and smiled at Sakura. "So, what's your name?"

Turning a fiery red yet again at the close proximity between herself and her handsome teacher, she manage to stammer out her surname in broken syllables.

"H-Haruno sir."

_My teacher, my teacher, my teacher._

"Well then, Sakura, I think we're going to become great friends." The man reached over and patted her on the back a few times. "Well then, let's go."

Her own mind was too muddled to even consider how he knew the name she didn't even mention.

Kakashi walked her towards the door while pulling out a neon pocketbook. That tiny book instantly caught Sakura's attention as she hobbled alongside him.

Before she had gnawed on his hand, Sakura could recall him reading the same book. He had seemed pretty satisfied with the book, for as he walked, he would make little giggling noises and smile, nodding secretly as if he had a piece of priceless gossip no one else knows. She wondered what could cause him to enjoy the little book so much.

Her burning curiosity got the best of her as she leaned down and tried to catch a glimpse of the printed letters on the cover.

What she saw made her blanch.

_Icha Icha Paradise._

Her eye twitched.

_Isn't that...supposed to be a...porn book?_

No. It must be a mistake. A respectable teacher like him wouldn't read such a low book.

Sakura stood on her toes and craned her neck over his arm, only to be generously rewarded with strips of very...ah...explicit scenes.

A big vein popped on her forehead.

_I will respect and treat my sensei as a proper teacher-_

Her vow was cut short by a high-pitched giggle.

_Aw, screw it. I hope you get hit by a moving truck._

* * *

_You, a princess who walks in the light, gentle as the breeze, beautiful as the setting sun in the east;_

_Me, a black knight who delves in the night, hates and never loves, a heart as cold as ice, but breaking, crumbling, dying;_

_And yet the light chose to save the damaged soul;_

_By shedding her light and showing the path that is most bright;_

_Why me? Why me? (he would murmur);_

_And yet the light broke the walls;_

_Broke the walls, reached through, healed, healed, (healed);_

_I love...don't die (she would answer);_

_Promised to stay forever, mending, healing, loving;_

_They were so in love, love, love (promised);_

_Never leave me in this hell alone;_

_I won't;_

_And yet she left, left, (gone)._

* * *

Sakura stumbled into the classroom, consciously aware of the blank looks she was receiving from the students in the classroom. She stared at them and they stared at her.

_Oh kami! This is awkward!_

Kakashi entered after her, crinkling his eyes into a smile that was directed towards the detatched population of Room 23. Still reading his perverted book, he continued to wear the same expression of boredom as he walked to his reclining chair and cleared his throat to make an announcement.

"Class, I have a real reason why I'm...er..." he looked to the clock, "...an hour late."

As if on cue, a single, blond boy in the back row jumped up and pounded his fists onto the table. "Yeah right, sensei!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, there is a reason why I put you in the row furthest from me. Now, shut up."

Ignoring the bristling boy, Kakashi continued to speak. "You see, I was on my way to school when I met a lost puppy."

He casted a sidelong glance at Sakura. His eyes were still on her as he spoke. "It was pink, tiny, and loved to bite. Therefore I named it pinky."

Sakura was damn ready to kill him.

"It was all lost and its forehead was so wide..." Kakashi murmured, paying no heed to the now fuming girl. "I just had to show it the way."

_Kill...rip apart...saw..cook him..._

The class remained silent.

_DESTROY! DESTROY! DE-_

A sudden burst of boisterous laughter snapped Sakura out of her thoughts.

"HA! HA! HA!" the blond boy roared, holding his stomach and pretending to wipe tears out of his eyes. "AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT! EVEN THE GRANDMA IN THE SHARK'S TUMMY EXCUSE WAS BETTER THAN THAT!"

Kakashi was unchanged. He only seemed to be more perplexed as he looked up over his precious book with one lazy eye.

"And do say, Naruto, what was wrong with this story?"

The blond boy, or Naruto, for that matter, smiled triumphantly and jutted out his chest. It was his time to shine! He huffed and walked to the front of the room, where he stuck three of his fingers out for everyone to see. He then had explained quickly that to make this more exciting, he'll do a countdown, a comment where none replied, or rather one which was completely ignored.

Naruto smirked inwardly.

_I'll show them! And this time, I won't be wrong! Believe it!_

_._

"Number Three!" Naruto yelled, ticking off his third finger. "Cats were never pink...er...I mean DOGS were never pink! Yeah! So that AIN'T gonna happen!"

His reason was met by a few disapproving sighs and shakes of heads.

Naruto's fingers twitched.

.

"Number Two!" Naruto bellowed, putting down his index finger...no...that's not good. He quickly switched it with his middle finger. "Dogs do NOT have wide foreheads!"

This statement was responded by numerous snores and whispers.

Naruto's eyes twitched.

_Just listen to my last statement. It's the best!_

_._

"NUMBER ONE!" Naruto roared, waving his hands around and flapping his arms before pointing an accusing finger towards Kakashi.

The man found guilty merely raised an eyebrow before returning back to giggling with his book.

Naruto, however, didn't give up.

"NUMBER ONE!" he repeated. "IF HE REALLY HAD HELPED A DOG, SHOULDN'T HE HAVE BROUGHT IT WITH HIM?"

_YOU LOSE SENSEI!_

.

There Naruto stood, eyes closed and arms akimbo, half expecting cheers and at the least a standing ovation for the pure brilliancy of his ideas. Instead, he was met by silence.

He curiously peeked through his squinted eyes.

He almost wished he hadn't.

His classmates were either sleeping, chuckling, or performing facepalms as if Naruto's reasonings were the most stupid ideas they have ever heard in the history of stupid ideas. Kakashi seemed to be enjoying his overzealous student's puzzled expression as he chuckled even more and flipped to the next chapter of Icha Icha Paradise, having already taken a sneak peak of the end of the previous chapter.

Naruto's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. "Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha..._What?"_

The near invisible girl (Sakura) on crutches giggled at the boy's expression.

Exhaling slowly, the teacher looked up to his student with a triumphant grin plastered onto his face.

"I have contradictions to every word you said, Naruto," Kakashi drawled slowly, as if he enjoyed the different shades of colors the boy's face was turning. "So walk back to your seat with that tail between your legs before you make a greater fool of yourself."

White. Pink. Salmon. Red.

Kakashi sighed before plugging his ears.

Crimsom. Scarlet. Maroon.

_That should be about the right color._

The one-man color show turned purple.

_Ah, here it comes._

"**BASTARD! KILL YOURSELF! DO YOU HAVE A FRIGGING DEATH WISH OR SOMETHING? YOUR GOING DOOOWN! DIE IN THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL AND JOIN YOUR PARENTS! SELL YOUR BODY PARTS TO THE MAFIA!"**

Kakashi yawned.

"Is that the best you can do?" he sighed. "I expected better from you. I guess your IQ really is in the negatives."

**"I'M GONNA RIP OFF THE PART THAT YOU HOLD MOST DEAR AND FEED IT TO THE WOLVES! YEAH! BELIEVE IT!**"

"I'm gonna lose my manhood? Well then, you're never going to lose your virginity."

Naruto turned blue.

"**SHUT UP!"**

"Now, back to the topic."

"**I'M NEVER GONNA STAY-"**

"Even though you don't normally see _pink _dogs with a wide brow," Kakashi interrupted, ignoring Naruto and glancing back at the long-forgotten Sakura with a morbid glee, "this dog is undeniably pink, and it certainly boasts an oversized forehead,"

"**YEAH? AND WHAT COULD YOU DO TO-**"

"And even though I am not obliged to bring the dog in here, it is, in fact, standing in the room, right this instant."

Kakashi swiveled around in his chair and turned to face the girl on crutches.

_Don't you dare, don't you dare..._

"And she is..."

He raised a finger to point at Sakura.

_NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO..._

_"_Right the-"

.

On that instant, the door behind Sakura slid open and a smooth, silky voice interrupted Kakashi's.

"You're in my way, _girl_."

* * *

_I know that voice._

* * *

**Yes! I'm done with this chapter! It's been hell trying to make this thing work...the story is so choppy and stuff.**

**Could you readers please review and tell me some ideas on Sasuke's and Sakura's past...'cuz I want the flashbacks to last, but I don't think I have enough ideas. **

**Please do me the favor and review. Thanks! **

**Until next time!**

**~Moon's Tide ('^')**


	5. Chapter 4: Bittersweet Smiles

**Well, what could I say. Thank you to all those to reviews, especially to one "visitor" who gave me the inspiration to the following flashback/memory.**

**I tried to make the beginning a little more light and the ending more emotional, but well, I've never been really good at these type of things. So I'm really, incredibly sorry if this chapter seems a little awkward. Sorry.**

**Ah, and after this _draggy _chapter, comes the fun. Enter, the eternal rivalry between the two ex-best friends.**

**Well, I hope you enjoy! (^.^)**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Bittersweet Smiles**

* * *

_I know that voice._

* * *

_A little girl stood by the riverbank._

_A little boy stood on the other side._

_It was rainy, slippery, and dark._

_ Having nowhere to go, and lost, so lost, she had called out to him. _

_He couldn't see. _

_But all he could hear was a frightened voice echoing. Echoing and echoing._

_He knew it was her. Nothing else. Just a whisper._

_So he had plunged straight into the icy waters and swam to her side. _

_How he knew she was even there was a miracle._

_When Sakura felt him next to her, she had instantly hugged him and gave her his jacket._

_Sasuke didn't even speak once._

_And yet, she knew._

_She knew that only he will go to such extent to go by her side._

_._

_Her knight in shining armor._

* * *

"You're in my way, _girl_."

_How...how is it possible? H-how is it him?_

There Sakura stood, back facing him, unable to move a single finger.

She breathed deeply.

Correction. She _tried _to breath deeply.

_How could it be?_

Even without looking, she could still feel the same, smothering onyx eyes burn holes into her tiny figure. She could almost - _just almost - _touch his pale, untouchable skin, feel his cold, blank stare, and sense that natural, cold aura that made even pro sumo wrestlers cry in the corner (that's another story for another time).

He was so close.

How she yearned to run her fingers through that chicken-assed hair and say that she was sorry for leaving him. She wanted to hug him and laugh together like the good old times when he would flick her forehead and call her annoying, a gesture to which she would reciprocate by punching his face. She so desperately, desperately hoped.

And yet, she couldn't.

She had only dared to really breathe when Kakashi finally spoke.

"Uchiha, what a pleasant surprise."

The boy stayed silent. He really didn't seem care on what was happening around him as he leaned back onto the wooden frame and cast an icy stare.

_So I didn't make a mistake. It really is him. My Sasuke-kun! The half-assed, silent, grumpy, ice block, tomato boy teme! _Sakura tried to refrain her eyes from rolling to the back of her head and passing out bang-splat onto the floor (a nasty habit that she had most recently procured once she was in a 'I-am-going-to-die-God-take-mercy' type of mode). It usually was her overly proud ego that prevented her in the past from doing so, as it has now done once more. With a quick snap, her once-diverted attention quickly turned back onto her more composed, detached sensei.

The said man was currently stifling a loud yawn.

"I see your vocabulary is just as limited as ever," Kakashi mocked, running a hand through his messy, silver hair. "Ever heard of a dictionary?"

"Hn."

His grunt was echoed by the screams of various females in the class.

_Dafuq?!_

"And I see that your numerous fangirls are as plenty as ever."

Grunt. Sasuke _really, really _didn't give a shit.

The other man noticed this with dry amusement and raised a single brow. _It was time to teach the damned Uchiha a lesson. _

"Say, did you get banged up already, or did your sexuality preference not change yet?"

Kakashi's seemingly casual comment was returned with an ominous dark glare that promised a bloody death.

The man still didn't get the hint as he flipped to the next page and continued his words after a moment of pindrop silence.

"Ah...so I see that you're still with the males, eh?"

The menacing atmosphere around the the two steadily grew larger and very much darker. "Shut up."

The "threatened" man merely looked up with an sickeningly sweet smile plastered onto his face. Sasuke, the receiver of the unnecessary spike of emotion, eyed his sensei with a sudden wariness and discomfort that could only be brought out during the most dangerous of the all situations.

His natural instinct was soon proven to be true.

"Don't worry, dear Sasuke-_kun_. If you only want the males, take blondy over there." Kakashi jabbed a thumb at Naruto. "After all, he's so desperate to lose his virginity, I don't think he cares about the gender anymore."

Sakura secretly wondered if he had a silent death wish. That idiotic man now had _two_ potential murderers chasing after his tail - one cup of a seemingly psychotic and hot-headed troublemaker, and a helping of a cold-blooded Uchiha killer. Things weren't looking out so good for this guy. Speaking of a cold-blooded killer...

_Sasuke Uchiha. _

His name alone was able to cut off the furious rants and screams of a certain infuriated blond student. And for that, the nearly-deafened girl tried to rally all the memories she had of this old, longtime childhood friend.

_Second son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. Brother of Itachi Uchiha, the heir to the international banking company. Prodigy at the age of four. Incredible at all the subjects, and amazingly exceptional in physical sports and arts. Likes to take walks and train. Favorite word is strength. Favorite food is omusubi with okaka and tomatoes. Dislikes cooperation, horrible in manners. Hates natto and anything sweet. Silent. Calm. Usually puts his head between his hands when annoyed, hates being poked in the forehead, especially when I do it, especially that time when - _

Sakura cut her thoughts the instant she realized what she was doing, mentally berating herself for having such foolish, wishful ideas.

_I shouldn't have involved everything he did around myself and our past memories. After all, it has been such a long time, I must mean nothing to him right now. He probably already forgot me. Baka._

But even so, as her mind ranted on with the cruel words of reject and contempt, her heart was thinking along another line, one completely opposite to the feeble protests her stubborn mind was procuring one after the other.

She herself knew which on to trust.

The truth was, Sakura really didn't know what she would do if he had completely forgotten her; if she was completely meaningless to him now. She knew that she will be hurt, and the pain will be slow and bloodied, just like before, but the moment it fades, what after? Hurt herself again? _Just like last time?_

_"Stay with me?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Pinky promise?"_

_"Geesh. You're such a child."_

_"Answer me."_

_"I guess so. Forever and ever."_

A lump formed in her throat.

She really didn't know.

Back when they were friends and turned to be so much more, Sakura remembered that she had loved him. With all her heart. Even as young as she was, as naive and little as she had acted, she knew that her feelings towards this broken, Uchiha successor were pure and true. There was nobody in her heart besides him and him alone.

_"Please don't leave me!"_

It still might be true.

___"Never."_

It still is true.

_'Forever and ever', huh? _

_That's a lie._

_**...xX(A/N: Dramatic part warning)Xx...**_

Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of Kakashi's amused voice cutting through the Uzumaki's hollers. "Sasuke, go to your seat. Naruto, shut up. Destroying my schedule like that.." Kakashi paused before smiling wickedly, having remembered a phrase that will surely infuriate the blond. "...shibo awarae*."

And boy was he right.

"PERVERTED INSULT TO MANKIND! _WE _MESSED UP YOUR SCHEDULE? OHOHO _WE _MESSED YOU UP?! AND I'M A WANNABE? THAT'S SO FUNNY I'M GONNA CRY!" the infuriated and clearly insulted student screamed. "I WAS HERE _SIX_ IN THE MORNING BUT WHERE WERE YOU? HUH? **PROBABLY LIVING YOUR WILD FANTASIES OF YOUR DAMNED BOOK THAT YOU COULD** **NEVER, EVER HAVE **- **OUCH!** THAT HURT!"

"Shut up you virgin."

"Back at you, pervert-sama."

"Do you want to be sent..."

"Haha li..."

"S..."

"..."

The bickering pair's words slowly blended into a blurred, droning mass as she listened on. Every sentence were fading away, their every meaning losing its identity.

_(Just like him.)_

But Sakura didn't care about what they were saying. In the very beginning, she wasn't listening to them at all.

_Tip. Tap._

_She could only hear the sound of his footsteps._

The sound of his footsteps, so eerily quiet.

_Tip. Tap._

_'How ironic,' _she thought bitterly. '_Just as in the past, we exchanged places in the present.'__  
_

.

He didn't spare the girl a second glance as he walked past her.

.

Unknown to him, their hands brushed in that passing moment, that single, fleeting second. He might have just ignored it. But even if he might have, she did not. She _could_ _not._

_"Don't! Please! You promised!"_

_"Meaningless."_

.

They say that a picture is worth more than a thousand words.

If so, a touch is worth more than a thousand pictures.

.

She had remembered.

The first time their hands had met, his touch was warm, loving, shy, caring, and everything she could have wanted wrapped up in a three-feet bundle. Sure, he might have been cold and a little frozen over, but he was still able to perceive warmth, and give others the same light in return. After a while, even his icy demeanor was able to thaw, slowly but surely, eventually leaving behind a lake of glimmering waters, pure reflections, and true _love._

But this time was different.

This time, his hand was cold, with high, barren barriers set around himself, covering everything and refusing anything that dares to near him. Frozen in his own world, trapped inside his own walls.

And what bothered her the most was that she couldn't feel a thing.

Like an ice statue that could never be melted.

So rigid.

_"Ne, Sasuke-kun, your so frigid!"_

Cold.

_"But I can be warm."_

Broken.

_"Sasuke-kun, I'll fix you!"_

Unchanging.

_"Sasuke-kun..."_

_"Sasuke-kun."_

_._

"Sasuke-kun."

* * *

_"Ouch!"_

_The crystal vase that the little girl was holding fell to the floor. And shattered._

_"Sakura!" A little boy rushed to her side. "Are you okay? Are you hurt...?" His voice trailed off as he began to stare down at the remains of the big vase that they had been assigned to carry._

_"Y-yeah. Ah! I'm really, really sorry for the bottle-thingy, Sasuke-kun. I really didn't mean to - wattya staring at Sasuke?"_

_Her eyes turned for a second to glance at the boy beside her, before reverting her confused gaze back to the broken pieces of the remnants laid before her. _

___The glass had shattered on the floor and the sun was glistening off each shard, shining a soothing, crystalline light into the eyes of the two children. It was beautiful, but untouchable. One would undoubtedly bleed if their tender skin had made contact with the crystal's deceiving sharp edges, especially if the touch was one of an innocent little girl._

___The little girl could barely contain her surprise when she heard a slight murmur so full of solitude and pain that she could hardly believe that it could come from a single person. "It's funny." _

_Sakura halted, trying to comprehend the meaning of the sudden intrusion of her friend. "Wha-"_

___(Their eyes met through the mirroring confinements of the fallen glass.)_

_The little boy bent down, tracing his hand elegantly over the glittering crystal fragments. _

_"These shards..." he muttered quietly, keeping his eyes trained on hers through the broken, mirror-like remnants. "...Do they not look familiar?" __  
_

_(These glass pieces, they're exactly like me.)_

_Her eyes instantly softened at his silent confession. She had already known that he had a hard life, living everyday to the brutal expectations of his father, trailing behind his brother, and spending every moment of his life to serve those who don't give a damn about him. _

_But Sasuke was a seclusive, enduring child. He would never actually admit his weakness, admit his pain, or to ever earnestly confide in anyone else. He was the type to silently stand there while his back was being crushed by the weight of his burden._

_For him to actually confess to her..._

_It made her happy._

_A smile made a way onto her face. Even if the burden is not hers to carry, she could still ease the pain._

_"Yes, it does remind me of something."_

_._

_Out of all the possible answers, Sasuke completely didn't expect that one to come from the pink-haired girl's mouth. And out of all the answers, this one hurt the most. _

_He bit his lip in an effort to maintain composure. __"I kn-"_

_"It reminds me that anything can always be fixed."_

_His head snapped up instantly as an astonished stare was met by a kind smile._

_(I will fix you. You will heal. Do not worry, I am here to stay.)_

_Nothing could ever compare to the true power that her words gave to him that day._

_Those words gave him hope, courage, strength, and so much more that words could never describe._

_Those words were his saving grace._

_Arigato, Sakura-chan._

* * *

Sakura quickly clamped a hand over her mouth as soon as she had realized what she had done.

His name had flown out of her mouth on impulse. It was purely accidental, irrational, and one-hundred percent stupid.

_'Curse my damned memories! If only I hadn't thought back, to the past...'_

Yes, what could have happened? Looking back to this faithful day, she could only ask herself, what could have happened if she had not called his name?_ If she hadn't remembered?_

_What would have happened?_

If she hadn't thought about that time, those tears, that last goodbye - maybe, just maybe - she could have gone on with her insignificant life, still invisible and alone, but never in pain yet again. Maybe she could have avoided the inevitable outcome of yet another broken heart. Maybe she could have avoided _the end._

But it's funny how fate chooses who to destroy.

What she had done could not have been reversed either way. She had the whole classroom's attention at that instant, some staring at her with curiosity, some with recognition, some with disgust and contempt and hate, _but she didn't care. __  
_

All she cared was whether he heard or not, _and she hoped by God he didn't_, but then again, luck was never really on her side.

_"The most terrible of luck, ne, Sasuke-kun?"_

_._

The raven-haired boy had already long stopped in his tracks. His back was completely still, almost solid, like a statue chiseled out of marble as he stiffened, his pale hands stuffed into his pockets.

_He knew that voice. _

His fists clenched.

_A weakness._

_I am not weak!_

Ebony bangs fell into his eyes as he tried his best to keep from showing the unnecessary emotions he had chose to destroy years ago.

_Shut up! Go away!_

_I don't want you here! _

_Traitor!_

_Get away from me!_

A chaste smirk formed on his lips.

_Leave me...alone..._

He would enjoy breaking this little porcelain doll.

_But it just won't go away._

.

S_he_ had stared at him in a wary daze as he slowly inclined his head to meet hers.

Before the sudden action, half of her sanity was promising bloody hell to everyone and everything that seemed to take joy in ruining her tiny and nonexistent life. When he had just stood there with clenched fists and not speaking a single word, she was pretty sure that if she had a knife, he would be decomposed bug food in the next few weeks.

She had been pissed, angry, and one second away from wringing his pretty little neck.

However, all this doubt melted away the very instant she saw his face again.

She had cursed her next-to-none willpower.

How was he able to extinguish her self-proclaimed legendary anger in the mere instances that she looked at him? How could she take one look at a face that she hadn't seen in four years and instantly remember the image of his dark eyelashes fanning over his cheeks? How?

It was an insult to her pride, her ego, and whatever she still had that wasn't already marred to oblivion.

Why? Why did it hurt so much when he would just perform a tiny action? When he refused to meet her eyes? Why did it hurt so much over there?

_"Look at me Sasuke-kun! I'm flying! Look at me!"_

Sakura instinctively grasped her chest and squeezed her eyes shut.

_'I suppose it's called love, ' _her inner self muttered bitterly. _'Ever heard of it, baka.'_

_I-I don't know...what to do._

_"Sakura, remember. In chess, or in any other game that you will ever play, always understand what you are doing. If you don't, never make the first move."_

A little smile slowly made way onto her face.

_Isn't that right, Sasuke-kun._

_I would wait, just like you always told me to._

And thus, with those quiet words and that gentle smile etched in the golden rays of the past, she waited.

Waiting for him to make the first move.

Waiting for him to speak.

She had waited, thinking that she had made the right move.

.

_I'm waiting...now, and forever._

_("Forever means forever, Sasuke-kun")_

.

On that day, Sakura made the worst mistake of her life.

* * *

_You haven't met my eyes yet, Sasuke-kun, why?_

* * *

**_*shibo awarae = pathetic wannabe_**

**_o~O~O~O~o_**

**_Ah, well, _another chapter for these lovely characters.**

**I have a few confessions to make. **

**I have been _really_ lazy this summer. I was also in a humongous rush to finish this chapter by July, and I had no clue how to continue the dramatic parts between these two characters. Therefore, I didn't edit. Sorry. **

**There might be a few grammar mistakes along the way, and if that is the case, please PM or review me so I can fix it.**

**Also, I am quite new to this writing thing and have no experience with love, and therefore have no experience towards dramatic love stories. So please forgive me on the part if this seems a little too...cheesy.**

**To those concerned readers out there, if there was a specific part that made Sasuke seem a little psycho (referring to the "break this little porcelain doll part"), he is perfectly sane. In the story, he'll just be a little traumatized and cruel from his past, just like the Shippuden. I plan to make this bittersweet, and I have no attention of making Sasuke fall heads-over-heels with Sakura in the first few moments he met her.**

**o~O~O~O~o**

**I realize that this chapter might be a little confusing to some. I will do my very best to answer all the questions you might have. Just message or review me, and I will reply.**

**o~O~O~O~o**

**Also, this might seem a little off topic, but right now, I think Orochimaru is my new favorite Sannin. Why? Read the latest manga chapter.**

**But he'll never beat Sasori. (Yes, Sasori's my favorite character)**

**o~O~O~o**

**If you have a kind heart and want to do me a big favor, please review! **

**~Moon's Tide (^.^)**


	6. Chapter 5: To Her Shitty Pride

**Yo**. **I'm back with another ridiculously long chapter.**

**So, just to throw this out there, it's okay if the reviews are more harsh because I get to learn from the criticism I get.**

**I think I might have gone a little insane to say this, but bashing me, my stories, my chapter, and the characters are _all allowed. _Bash to your heart's content! But please, please make the criticism have a little sense in them so I know what I am doing wrong. Do it for the kind-hearted part inside you. **

**To sum it up: **

**Even if it was the worst chapter you have ever read in you life, PWEASEEEEEEEE review.**

* * *

**Anyways...**

**This is where the fun starts.**

**Now, for the people who were wondering what Sasuke's reply was, their meeting will come in little bits and pieces around the the chapter.**

**As for another heads up, this isn't like the mushy-mushy-yucky-yucky previous chapter. It will be a little more ****_hard, _****and Sakura will begin to grow a backbone that's name doesn't start with a "Sas", and ends with an "Uke". **

**I've seen this line in many fanfictions that I read where people type "Disclaimer", and then write something along the lines of: "I do not own Naruto." Since I have a feeling that these lovely young authors write this for a reason (along with the fact that I have no intention of getting sued at a young age...)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**There.**

**Well that's that and back to the chapter (to those that were actually reading the note).**

* * *

**Chapter 5: To Her Shitty Pride**

* * *

Sakura Haruno was having a shitty day.

How?

She felt like shit, she tasted shit, and she wanted to, well, _shit_.

And this all was because of a single cruel remark from a certain half-assed Uchiha.

It was only after when her mind overcame the emotional blow from her old, childhood friend, that she was struck by the sheer amount and intensity of negative emotions whirling inside herself like the trash disposal down the street, all but pointing with neon lights towards the indifferent Uchiha. The sheer...hatred nearly overwhelmed her.

Yet honestly, she couldn't say she didn't have a reason to.

Because of that cold-hearted bastard, she ended up sitting in the back of the class in the midst of snickering imbeciles, facing his chicken-assed head, trying to concentrate but not quite succeeding, and wanting to disappear. It wasn't a good start in a new school, if you asked her.

But what really ticked her off though, wasn't the Uchiha. It wasn't her petty classmates, wasn't her corrupted teacher, wasn't her idiotically stupid, trashy, _imperfect _life...

...it was herself.

As much as the sparkly signs directed all her hate towards her ex-bestfriend, she knew better.

Sakura Haruno was completely disgusted with herself. She hated the way she just crumbled after seeing a mere person, destroyed her walls to reach to him, gave everything, _lost everything, _and let him walk all over the remains.

It was morbid. She couldn't stand it, and there were still more.

And with the most disgusted look on her face, she realized, _what did she do the instant he single-handedly ruined her life?_

Oh. That's right.

Nothing.

Because of her own, _fucking, _incapabilities, she resolved to sitting like a statue behind her other kind (Sasuke), and scribbling profanities over the portrait of Shakespeare and his funky collar because she was _too much of a fucking chicken to say it out loud._

Sakura bit her lip and hung her head in shame. Even after the whole fiasco, the room still held the memory close, never giving her a moment to rest as sullen whispers and murmurs enveloped her like a blanket, suffocating her, cutting her...

"_Seriously, she's got some nerve still staying here after that bashing."_

_"I actually feel quite sorry for her. I mean, after all he said..."_

_(One cold look. The instant he raised his eyes, she was shattered. Broken. Not that she wasn't already, that is.)_

_"Serves her right. Taking away my Sasuke-kun."_

_"I g-guess so...but that was just..."_

_("You are a insane, miserable little peasant.")_

_"Nah. Azami, you are really too nice. What really concerns me is what she is to him."_

_"Trash, of course!"_

_"But they seemed to have known each other..."_

_("Who the hell are you?")_

_"No need. She's worthless anyways. I mean, she's SO ugly."_

_(His dark eyes roamed over her figure before chastely adding the word she had become so accustomed to. "Hideous.")_

_"I know right?! Did you even SEE the glasses she was wearing? Braids? She's even covered in dirt and has a CAST, I bet..."_

The apple-smelling pencil in Sakura's hand broke. What the hell do they take her as? Deaf? Ignorant? Mentally retarded? The lone pink-haired girl had silently (and unwillingly, might she add) heard every little piece of gossip and the birth of new rumors spread around, all centered around her. She did know and understand that they had every right to talk about the morning's unfortunate events, and once there's talk, there is gossip.

But damn, can't they keep their mouth shut?

_Their minds were probably not hardwired with the 'quiet and sensitive' button._

Sakura tapped the eraser of the destroyed pencil on her chin, the other piece busy scribbling on her graffitied book.

Of course it hurt.

No matter how much she denied it and remained strong, the pain is always there. Those walls could only keep erected after so much pressure, and Sakura could freely say that they were rendered useless after the emotional beating she took in the morning. With those walls gone, she remained vulnerable to the constant mockery thrown at her.

Of course it hurt, but not as much as it should have.

A bitter smile graced her lips.

It was obvious it didn't. After all, most of their scornful remarks were true.

She knew very well of her physical 'incapabilities'. The days of the laughing, angelic girl dancing in the lush, sun-kissed meadows were gone. Sakura was friggin' ugly, and she knew it. Nothing could change that, so why bother wasting extra time to put on contacts or to comb her hair in a vain attempt to live through the imaginary fairytales only in stories. Before, she did it for _him._

When she woke up this morning, she didn't care. And then _he_ had to show up again.

He had to break her again.

_("I'm sorry Sakura. I have to go."_

_'But you promised!"_

_The same blank onyx eyes bored into her crying figure._

_"You are so naive. Did you really think I'll stay?")_

Sakura raised her head to glance at the indifferent students, before trailing her eyes up to the clock above their sleeping teacher's head. The blank face of the clock blared back at her.

8:54. Six minutes from eternal damnation.

She peeked out of the corner of her eye to study the profile of the cold bastard, who, of course, was cool as a cucumber, acting as if the morning's events never happened, as if ruining another's life was just a daily hobby. It infuriated her.

Sakura knew that Sasuke wasn't stupid. No, quite opposite of that, in fact. During the time that they went to school together, he was a genius of his age. Some say that he was even smarter than the teachers who helplessly tried to teach this child prodigy _something _that he didn't already know.

And the one part of his perfectly intellectual mind that Sakura remembered the most was his amazing, sharp memory.

His natural keen brain always amazed her when she was young. It always seemed that with a blink of his eye he was able to memorize anything - from pictures to whole passages. She remembered once when he glanced at a poem and recited all the sixteen verses to the whole class, so smoothly as if he had been practicing his lines countless times before.

So if that were the case, there could have been no way that he forgot about her. Even as small and insignificant he claims her to be, she still knew him, and she'd be damned if he hadn't memorized all the faces of his classmates in the timespan of his life.

And if he had remembered...

Sakura cast an angry glare towards the back of the her ex-best friend's spiked hair.

...then he was pretending.

He had intentionally _humiliated _her in front of her own class, _trashed _her social life (as if she ever had one), _walked all over her _as if he owned it, made her miss out on one English class, and that this thing was not but a _whole, shitty act._

Sasuke Uchiha had hurt her pride. No one ever hurts a Haruno's pride.

Screw the public's thoughts. She's going to teach him to never, ever, ever mess with the "Pink-haired she-devil".

Sakura bolted up the instant the bell rang. Not bothering to listen to the extra assignments, she stuffed her books inside her bag and stalked out the door, acting the most dignified anyone could be with crutches.

Of course, on the way out, she didn't forget to cast a sickly-sweet smile to Sasuke that promised a twisted, morbid, and a bloody, bloody death.

She smirked darkly.

Two can play this game.

* * *

_"Baka!" _

_A 8 year old girl with a broomstick ran around the courtyard, a murderous intention in her heart. _

_A raven-haired boy mockingly ran away from her, turning around ever so often to cast a mocking smile, which really wasn't making the situation any better._

_"How DARE YOU! GIVE ME HIM BACK!"_

_The boy backpedaled as he ducked with agile grace to avoid the flailing weapon. "Give what back?"_

_"My GOLDFISH! MR. NUGGETS!" Sakura ranted, glaring with absolute hate towards her grinning friend._

_Her friend's eyes widened with mock courtesy. "Oops. I might have lost him," he drawled, eyes growing brighter with each passing second._

_"COME AGAIN?"_

_Sasuke grinned, enjoying the wide myriad of colors shown on Sakura's face. "I might have flushed him down the toilet."_

_"YOU FREAKING FLUSHED MR. NUGGETS DOWN THE TOILET?!"_

_A shrug. "It was annoying me."  
_

_"It was annoying you IT WAS ANNOYING YOU SO YOU FLUSHED HIM DOWN THE TOILET?!" Sakura hollered, waving the broom like a butcher knife. "I WOULD SWEAR, BUT MOMMIES GOING TO KILL ME BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT AND **HOW IDIOTIC COULD YOU GET?!"**_

_"Hn."_

_"MY GOOOOLLLLDDDDDFIIIIISSSSSHHHHHH!" _

_Dodge. "Hn."_

_"MR. NUGGETS! I LOVE YOU!"_

* * *

Sakura trekked down the long halls, trying to keep to herself, but not quite succeeding. Her invisible facade had vanished the moment she had talked to the "Konoha's Prince", and the best she could do is to try and make the most of the situation by destroying the Uchiha's life as he had done to hers. All she needed was to stay as invisible as she could right now, and -

"HEY! PINK HAIRED GIRL WITH BIG GLASSES! WAIT UP!"

The said girl instantly froze when she heard a loud voice fill the hallways, hoping that it was just her imagination.

_'Please let it be a mistake, please let it be a mistake...'_

"WAIT!"

_'Awww...shit.'_

Sakura groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Turning around as if she was awaiting her impending death sentence, she saw the blond boy from earlier running towards her with a cheesy grin and a pair of madly flailing arms.

"HEEEELLLOOOOO!" Naruto yelled, obviously not minding all the attention. "I'M GLAAAD TO MEEEEET YOOU!"

Sakura managed to squeeze out a strained smile and a twitching hand. The vein on her forehead popped up as she forced out a "Nice to meet you too".

Pfft. Who the hell was she kidding.

The running boy came to a stop right beside her, smiled, full teeth and all, and suddenly stuck out his hand into her face. Grinning like he had just won the lottery, he scratched the back of his head, which in turn messed up his sun-kissed hair.

"Name's Uzumaki Naruto." His cerulean eyes twinkled down at her (he was taller than her by a head or so). "Yours?"

.

The pink-haired girl was shocked to a point where she almost thought she heard wrong.

All the previous agitation she had towards the hyperactive boy disappeared in an instant when he smiled down at her with that bright smile and asked sincerely and  
whole-heartedly for her name. She nearly didn't know how to respond.

It has been so long...since someone had ever smiled at her.

So long since...since she was ever reminded...that she _existed._

_And said that her existence was okay._

_._

Her wonderment was broken when she heard an awkward cough, and looking up, she realized that in her daze, she had ended up staring at him like a lunatic and not saying a single word.

But even then, she was just so, so, so, so happy. Even if it was just a simple greeting, even if it was just who this boy was, she had never felt so overjoyed.

A smile broke out on her face.

For the first time since God-who-knows-when, Sakura Haruno smiled the brightest, truest smile she could ever manage.

"Nice to meet you, Naruto-san." Sakura placed her smaller hand in his larger and tanner one. "My name's is Sakura Haruno."

At first, Naruto seemed a little startled at her sudden change of mood, but before she could even have a sliver of doubt, he grinned again, this time even wider, and grasped his new friend's hand tightly.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan!"

_Mom, I think I have made my first friend._

* * *

**MUAHAHAHA! I LOVE THE BADASS HARUNO!**

**Sasuke's gonna suffer! And I, as the writer, is going to enjoy every moment of it! Ah, and there won't be any Narusaku, if you're wondering. I just wanted to show the close relationship between these two friends.**

**I love being a sadist.**

**.**

**So once again, please review! (Read the first A/N)**

**~Bye, bye! **

**~Moon's Tide (=_=)~**


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